About The Folk Union
The Folk Union is an independent micro press exploring folk culture and the folk scene emerging around it.
With illustrations, booklets, guides, zines and occasional moots, we try to create a space for conversation about the place we live in.
The project grew out of several years spent working within what some have called a new folk revival. While folk culture remains an important part of our interests, The Folk Union is equally concerned with the wider places, communities and institutions that surround it.
Part small press, The Folk Union also looks at the creative, communal and occasionally overlooked aspects of English life as well as critique and thought about folk culture and interest in it.
The Folk Union isn’t a membership or a union in the true sense. There are no dues or formal strucures. Really, it’s just a place to get together to think about the moment we’re living through now.
Prints, publications and The Folk Union Handbook are available through the shop.
Read The Folk Union Values here.
The Folk Union is an independent micro press exploring folk culture and the folk scene emerging around it.
With illustrations, booklets, guides, zines and occasional moots, we try to create a space for conversation about the place we live in.
The project grew out of several years spent working within what some have called a new folk revival. While folk culture remains an important part of our interests, The Folk Union is equally concerned with the wider places, communities and institutions that surround it.
Part small press, The Folk Union also looks at the creative, communal and occasionally overlooked aspects of English life as well as critique and thought about folk culture and interest in it.
The Folk Union isn’t a membership or a union in the true sense. There are no dues or formal strucures. Really, it’s just a place to get together to think about the moment we’re living through now.
Prints, publications and The Folk Union Handbook are available through the shop.
Read The Folk Union Values here.
About Mike
The Folk Union is run by Mike Hankin.
I’m an artist, illustrator and educator based in Cornwall. I also run the OffBeat Folk Film Club & Festival a space sharing archive and contemporary films about folk and vernacular culture.
My work is informed by an interest in the customs, institutions, landscapes and everyday creativity that shape life in the UK. Through painting, illustration, publishing, film and writing, I explore everything from folk traditions and village greens to parish halls and myth.
The Folk Union is a personal project and reflects my own interests and observations. It doesn’t define folk culture or speak on behalf of a movement. Instead, it exists as a place to publish work, share ideas and document a resurgence in interest in folk culture which is taking place now.
I occasionally write and speak about folk culture, English identity and vernacular life.
Mike Hankin - Photo by Alex Cantouris
Get in Touch
All illustrations are by Mike Hankin.
The best way to contact me is via email:
hello@thefolkunion.com
All illustrations are by Mike Hankin.
The best way to contact me is via email:
hello@thefolkunion.com